Two-Wire Solution for Measurement of the Thermal Conductivity and Specific Heat Capacity of Liquids: Experimental Design

After a brief review of the hot-wire method, the design of an experiment that employs a two-wire technique is proposed. Several uncertainty sources are considered in order to define the optimal experimental conditions and evaluate the advantages of the two-wire technique. Convection and radiation effects and finite properties of the wires are discussed. The measurement uncertainties of the temperature rise, the heat flux generated by the hot wire, the time of the measurements, and the radial position of the second wire are considered. The influence of the uncertainty sources on the simultaneous estimation of thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity is analyzed for the hot-wire and two-wire techniques.